(a) OBR Requirements. In addition to all of the requirements in this Article, the following additional requirements apply for an Enrolled Financing Agreement to be eligible to be repaid through OBR:
(1) If an OBR Customer receives fuel delivery from more than one IOU, charges will be placed on the bill of the IOU whose fuel is related to the ESM(s) with the greatest installed costs.
(2) IOU Account and Bill Requirements. The IOU account through which an Enrolled Financing Agreement is repaid must meet all of the following requirements:
(A) The IOU account must not be past due;
(B) The IOU account must not be in a payment arrangement for past due payments;
(C) The IOU account must be for a non-residential IOU customer or a residential multifamily IOU customer;
(D) The IOU account must be billed monthly; and
(E) The IOU account, if the Project includes installations at more than one service address, must receive a single bill for service to all the addresses.
(3) Enrolled Financing Agreement Requirements. An Enrolled Financing Agreement must meet all of the following requirements:
(A) The individual or entity named on the IOU bill on which the OBR Total Charge will appear must also be named on the financing agreement that is to be repaid through OBR.
(B) The Total Financed Amount of the Enrolled Financing Agreement must only be comprised of the Claim-Eligible Financed Amount and any of the following costs, if applicable:
(i) The costs of any additional ESMs in excess of those included in the Claim-Eligible Financed Amount.
(ii) The costs of any Distributed Generation.
(4) Customer Authorization. The individual or entity named on the utility bill on which the OBR Total Charge will appear, or their authorized representative or agent, must complete an Authorization to Add Charges to the Utility Bill, in a form developed by the appropriate IOU.
(b) Required Data Points. The following data points must be provided to the Authority by the FPE:
(1) An indication by the FPE of their intent to have the Enrolled Financing Agreement repaid through OBR;
(2) All service account numbers for the IOUs providing service to the Eligible Property(ies);
(3) The OBR Total Charge; and
(4) The fuel type that accrued the greatest ESM installed costs.
(c) Obligations of the Authority.
(1) Within 10 business days of the Enrollment Date of an Enrolled Financing Agreement submitted for repayment through OBR, the Authority will either communicate the necessary data required to place financing charges on the IOU bill to the relevant IOU or will communicate the reason for rejection to the FPE.
(2) Upon receipt of a written request from an FPE to remove charges for an Enrolled Financing Agreement being repaid through OBR, the Authority will communicate the request to the relevant IOU within five business days.
(3) The Authority will report to an FPE, in a format determined by the Authority, all OBR remittances deposited to an FPE's account within three business days from the remittance deposit.
(4) The Authority must communicate the OBR Modified Charge Cutoff Date to the FPE, in a format determined by the Authority, within 10 calendar days of the OBR Approval Date.
(d) Restrictions on the FPE.
(1) It may take multiple IOU billing cycles after the OBR Approval Date for the OBR Total Charge to first appear on the OBR Customer's IOU bill due to variations in IOU billing cycle intervals.
(2) An Enrolled Financing Agreement may be repaid through OBR for up to 15 years from the OBR Approval Date.
(3) The FPE must not accelerate repayment of an Enrolled Financing Agreement while it is being repaid through OBR, consistent with the relevant OBR Tariff.
(e) Removal from OBR. The OBR Customer may be removed from participation in OBR for any of the following reasons:
(1) Failure to comply with the regulations within this Article.
(2) At the request of the FPE whose Enrolled Financing Agreement is being repaid through OBR, communicated in a format determined by the Authority.
(3) At the request of the IOU on whose bill the OBR Total Charge appears. The IOUs will only remove a customer from OBR at the direction of the Authority.
(f) Failure to Pay and Partial Payments.
(1) Failure to pay in full all charges listed on the IOU bill, including any financing charges, may result in the disconnection of utility service.
(2) Any partial payment of the OBR Customer's IOU bill, including financing charges, will be processed by the IOUs, consistent with the partial payment provisions in the relevant OBR Tariff.
(g) FPE Change Requests to OBR Total Charge. An FPE may update the OBR Total Charge monthly and must communicate any change to the Authority in a format determined by the Authority. Changes to the OBR Total Charge communicated to the Authority prior to the OBR Modified Charge Cutoff Date in a calendar month will appear on the OBR Customer's next IOU bill.
(h) Operational Reserve Fund. The Authority must utilize the ORF to prevent a shortfall in a payment to an FPE when it is due to no fault of the FPE, unless the ORF is depleted of funds. Payments made from the ORF on behalf of an FPE must be reimbursed pursuant to Section 10092.15(h)(2).
(1) Use of the ORF.
(A) If there is a Delayed Bill on an OBR Customer's account, the Authority will direct funds equal to the amount of the OBR Total Charge to be transferred from the ORF to the affected FPE. The funds transferred become an ORF Balance due from the FPE. Additional funds must not be transferred for subsequent Delayed Bills for the same OBR Customer until the funds that were transferred as a result of the previous Delayed Bill are repaid to the ORF.
(B) If a Returned Item by an FPE's OBR Customer reduces the funds available for the Authority to forward an outgoing remittance to a different FPE, the Authority will direct funds equal to the amount of the shortfall to be transferred from the ORF to the affected FPE. The funds transferred become an ORF Balance due from the FPE whose OBR Customer caused the Returned Item. The Authority will not direct a transfer from the ORF to an FPE for a Returned Item caused by the FPE's own OBR Customer.
(C) The ORF will not be utilized for an Enrolled Financing Agreement after 15 years from its Enrollment Date.
(2) Reimbursement of the ORF.
(A) The Authority may redirect remittances received from any of an FPE's OBR Customers to reimburse the ORF for an ORF Balance due from that FPE.
(B) If an FPE no longer has any Enrolled Financing Agreements being repaid through OBR, the FPE's outstanding ORF Balance becomes due to the Authority within 30 days.
(C) Claims paid to an FPE will be net of any ORF Balance due from the FPE.
(D) If an OBR Customer whose account initiated an ORF transfer based on a Delayed Bill is removed from participation in OBR prior to the ORF Balance associated with that Delayed Bill being repaid, the ORF Balance associated with that Delayed Bill becomes due within 90 days of that customer's OBR Removal Date, except as provided in Section 10092.15(h)(2)(B).
(3) Replenishment of the ORF. If there are insufficient funds in the ORF, within five business days the Authority will communicate to the IOUs the deficiency and request additional funds.
(i) Finance Entity Enrollment as an OBR Participant.
(1) To participate in OBR, the Finance Provider Applicant's application for enrollment in the program must contain, in addition to those described in Section 10092.2, all of the following information, disclosures, and acknowledgements:
(A) An indication that the FPA intends to participate in OBR.
(B) An indication of which applicant will perform the role of OBR Representative, in addition to all other Finance Provider Entity roles described in Section 10092.2(b). The OBR Representative role must do all of the following:
(i) Supply the Authority with the required data related to Enrolled Financing Agreements being repaid through OBR, as described in Section 10092.15(b).
(ii) Be the FPE point of contact for communications and reports to and from the Authority related to the status of OBR participation and data related to the FPE's financings repaid through OBR. Communications to and from the Authority must occur in a manner determined by the Authority.
(iii) Be performed by either the Primary Finance Provider Entity or the Affiliate Finance Provider Entity.
(C) A similar explanation of the benefits to OBR Customers due to the FPA's participation in OBR, if any, in addition to the explanation of how the Loss Reserve Contribution will be utilized to provide benefits to Eligible Small Business Customers compared to the FPA's typical product offerings required by Section 10092.2(c)(3)(C).
(D) The FPA's acknowledgements, in addition to the acknowledgements described in Section 10092.2(c)(4), signed by an individual authorized to legally bind the FPA, of all of the of the following:
(i) The Authority has made no representations, promises, or guarantees pertaining to the functionality or reliability of IOU billing systems.
(ii) The ORF exists as a tool to address interruptions in OBR payment streams to the FPE, and funds from the ORF do not constitute a loan or a line of credit to the FPE.
(E) The FPA's certifications, in addition to the certifications described in Section 10092.2(c)(5), signed by an individual authorized to legally bind the FPA, of all of the following:
(i) It must comply with each IOU's OBR Tariff;
(ii) It agrees to repay any ORF Balance owed pursuant to Section 10092.15(h);
(iii) It understands that multiple IOU billing cycles may elapse after the OBR Approval date and before the Total OBR Charge appears on the OBR Customer's IOU bill; and
(iv) It must not accelerate the repayment of an Enrolled Financing Agreement that is being repaid through OBR until the OBR Customer's OBR Removal Date.
(F) The FPA's representation, warranty, and covenant, in addition to the representations described in Section 10092.2(c)(7)(E), signed by an individual authorized to legally bind the FPA, that it agrees that the IOUs are not responsible for, and must have no liability for, the payment of Program funds or OBR Customer payments to the FPE after those amounts are transmitted from the IOUs to the accounts designated by the Authority.
(2) Claims made by FPEs Participating in OBR. In addition to the requirements for claim applications described in Section 10092.10(e), a claim application submitted by an FPE participating in OBR must include whether an outstanding ORF Balance is owed at the time of a claim submittal and the amount owed, if known.
Credits
Note: Authority cited: Sections 26006 and 26009, Public Resources Code. Reference: Sections 26002, 26002.5, 26003, 26006, 26011 and 26040, Public Resources Code.
History
1. New section filed 7-19-2021 as an emergency; operative 7-19-2021 (Register 2021, No. 30). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 1-18-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
2. New section refiled 12-30-2021 as a deemed emergency pursuant to Public Resources Code section 26009; operative 1-18-2022 (Register 2021, No. 53). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 4-18-2022 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
3. New section refiled as a deemed emergency pursuant to Public Resources Code section 26009; operative 4-18-2022 (Register 2022, No. 15). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-18-2022 or emergency language shall be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Certificate of Compliance as to 4-18-2022 order, including repealer of subsections (d)(2), (i)(1)(E)(iv) and (i)(1)(E)(vi) and subsection renumbering, transmitted to OAL 7-12-2022 and filed 8-15-2022; amendments effective 8-15-2022 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2022, No. 33).
This database is current through 4/12/24 Register 2024, No. 15.
